You know what's coming next. Ready guys??Sorry. I had written the below post but never hit enter/save!
Fixed it! Slomo pointed me in the right direction if not the correct solution.
When I started looking into removing the shroud to access the coil kill wire (in the end, didn't actually remove the shroud) I noticed a bunch of grass stuck below the shroud.
Brought out the compressed air and blew what probably had been a mouse nest worth of crap out of there which apparently had been hindering the smooth operation of the auto choke!
Problem solved,
We now return you to your normally scheduled programming.
Oh great... brush my teeth once a month, floss once a year and now THIS!You know what's coming next. Ready guys??
Remove the metal fan shroud. CLEAN that filthy engine to like new conditions. This is a YEARLY to-do in yours and every other mower engine manual. Behind the muffler and so on. Any oily dirt slime areas need to be gone. Those oil slicks insulate the aluminum retarding engine cooling. Neglect this and you are asking for engine damage.
Juicer had a mouse nest, juicer had a mouse nest. HA-HA!!! Glad she is a runner.